Cleaning of industrial machinery often presents unusual cleaning problems. Any given piece of machinery may include components made of many types of materials. Because of the complexity or the individual inaccessibility of the multiple components of such machines, a variety of components can be in contact with the cleaning composition during the cleaning process. Therefore, it is not only necessary for a cleaning composition clean properly, but the composition also must avoid causing damage to the various components and to the various materials in the components of the equipment.
A problem of this type was recognized by the United States Government when it published Military Specification No. MIL-C-87937B on Jan. 27, 1994, which discloses the requirements for cleaning compositions for aerospace equipment. These cleaning compositions must meet particular cleaning effectiveness standards and must not have specific detrimental effects on machinery components. For example, the composition cannot adversely affect painted and unpainted metal surfaces, cannot cause corrosion, and cannot cause stress crazing on acrylic or polycarbonate plastic. Additionally, it must not affect polysulfide sealants, and it must be compatible with rubber.
It has now been discovered that terpene-based cleaning compositions can be prepared which have properties appropriate for the industrial cleaning of multi-component machinery. These compositions are effective cleaners that avoid detrimental effects to the components of machinery, such as, for example, aircraft, aerospace ground equipment, and aerospace ground equipment engines. The presently disclosed combination of certain solvents, surfactants, and inhibiting agents yields a wide range of properties that are not typically attributed to these components. Furthermore, the combination of components yields an environmentally acceptable oil removing composition that cleans soiling, such as for example, oils, greases, particulates, carbon tracks, and the like, from a substrate. These compositions can form a water and oil emulsion with any oil in the soiling for a time sufficient to remove the oil and other soiling from the substrate, but then release free water from the emulsion. This is known as oil splitting.